Ash-discharge mechanism



F. T. AND J. M. NECHOLSON. ASH DISCHARGE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION man FEB. I8, 1918.

1,348,659. Patente Aug- 3, 1920.

0 P 6- {l 5 \l I \9 O O INF/EN R wire!) srarns PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK T. NIoHoLsoN, or cameraman, MASSACHUSETTS, A D JOHN M. NIcHoLscN,

or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS To WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTUR- ING ooMrANY, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

ASH-DISCHARGE MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. S, 192th.

Application filed February 18, 1918. Serial No. 217,909.

7 To all whom it may-concern Be it known that we, FRANK T. Nicno'n- SON, a subject of the King'of Great Britain andlreland, and a resident of Cambridge, llll'a'ssacfiusetts, and JOHN M. NroHoLsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident ofNew York, N. Y., have made a new and useful Invention in Ash-Discharge Mechanism, of which the-following is a specificat-ion.

This invention relates to ash or refuse discharge mechanisms and has for an object to produce improved means for discharging ash, clinker or other refuse material from a furnace equipped with automatic or other stoking apparatus.

A further object is to produce means for positively discharging clinker or refuse material from a furnace and at the same time insuring an air seal by preventing the fine material from dropping unimpeded inte the ash pit. v

A further object is to produce a refuse discharge mechanism which is protected from the heat of combustion within the furnace and-which can be readily and easily manipulated for the purpose of dischargj ing refuse material-,from the furnace or from various sections of the furnace in ac cordance with variations in the delivery of the material from the fuel supportingelements of the furnace.

These and'other objects are attained by means of apparatus embodying the features herein described and illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forminga part hereof. I

In the drawing we have more or less diagrammatically illustrated in transverse section a refuse discharge mechanism which may be employed in connection with an automatic stoker of any type.

As illustrated, our invention contemplates a' refuse discharge mechanism in connection with which means are'employed for preventing the mechanism from being subjected to the heat of combustion within the combustion chamber. of the furnace and ered upon being discharged from the fuel supporting elements of the furnace. The

refuse material in passing downwardly through the well has ample time to cool before it reaches the discharge mechanism. Unconsumed fuel received by the well also has time to be thoroughly consumed and to cool before it reaches the discharge'mechanism. Where such wells areemployed and where the discharge mechanism in effect forms the bottom of the well, there is nothing to prevent fine material from sifting through the well and dropping into the. ash pit. As a matter of fact the operation of v the discharge mechanism to some extent aids the sifting of the fine material, since it setsup agitation throughout the entire mass of material within the well. The result is that the well retains only the relatively large material and consequently the mass within the well is permeated by crevices and interstices which are of sucharea as to provide an almost unimpeded path for hot gases from the combustion, chamber to the ash pit. Where the furnace is operated under forced draft and the combustion chamber is consequently maintained under pressure, the detrimental effect of such a condition within the well will be readily apparent. The difiiculty encountered with such an arrangement of apparatus is overcome by apparatus embodying our invention, since we provide a stationary bottom for the well or receptacle which not only supports the materialwithin the well, but prevents fine material from dropping unimpeded into the ash pit.

In the drawing we have illustrated an embodiment of g the invention which includes a well forming structure so arranged thatv a well 4 is provided between the fuel supporting members of the furnace, z'. e., the furnace grates, and the rear bridge wall. It will. of course, be understood that where a double ended stoker is employed the well 4; will extend transversely across the stoker between the two ends thereof.

'As shown, thewell forming structure includes side walls 5 and 6 and a bottom plate 7. The side walls extend transversely of the stoker and, the inclined wall 5 is preferably located adjacent to the fuel discharging elements of the furnace, whereas the wall 6 is located adjacent to or forms an extension of the bridge wall of provide an unobstructed the furnace. In the drawing the wall 5 terminates some distance above the bottom plate 7, thereby providing a lateral dis- Icharge aperture 8, which extends across the structure and consequently across the furnace A clinker grinder or discharge roll 9 partially closes the aperture 8 and is located adjacent to the lower end of the wall 5. The roll 9 is of any desired construction, but is preferably provided with radiallyfprojecting teeth or equivalent means adapted'to effectively engage refuse material such as is ordinarily discharged from the furnace. The roll may be driven by any suitable means and consequently is mounted upon a shaft which extends transversely across the furnace. It is preferably so located With relation to the wall 5 that the lower end of the wall will form an abutment which is capable of freeing the roll of material tending to adhere to it. The roll is of such diameter, and is so located with relation to the aperture 8 as to passage between it and the bottom plate 7 of the well.

In order to discharge the refuse material collected in the well, we employ a series of plungers 10 which are adapted to reciprocate across the face of the plate 7 and thereby force the material retained within the'well toward the roll 9. Any suitable means may be emplioyed for reciprocating the plungers 10, but as illustrated, each plunger is provided with a connecting rod 11 and an operating crank 12. 1 preferably so arrange the cranks 12 that the separate plungers may be operated independently. This may be accomplished by means of a pawl and ratchet mechanism. or by any other suitable operative connection. As shown, the plungers 10 in effect move into and out of the confines of the well. and the lower wall 6 terminates above the plate 7 and cooperates with a bracket 13 in forming a way in which the plungers operate. As shown, the throw of the plungers is such that the plungers only move partially across the plate 7, consequently there is always a space between each plunger and the roll 9 which is. wider, or at least equal in width to'the space between the roll and the plate 7. In addition to this, the speed of the imp'elling stroke is such that the travel of the plunger in inches per minute is less than the peripheral speed of the surface of the roll. With such an arrangement, the plungers move the material from the wellinto contact with the roll, and the roll in effect picks up the material and discharges it through the aperture between it and the plate *1". In other words, the intention is that the plunger-s 10 operate more slowly than the roll 9 so that they exert little or no lateral pressure on the roll, but merely feed the refuse material to the roll. The

refuse material leaving the rolls is discharged over the edge'of theplate 7 into the ash pit, or any other receptacle for receiving it. With this arrangement of apparatus the refuse material is positively discharged from the well and there is no tendency for sifting, since the bottom plate 7 prevents fine material from dropping into ing poke bars into the well. With this ar-' rangement, access may be had to substantially the entire interior of the well and consequently bridging or clogging within the well can be prevented.

While we have described and illustrated but one embodiment of our invention, it will beapparentto those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, additions and omissions may be made in the apparatus illustrated without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as set forth by the appended claims.

What we claim is:

l. A refuse discharge mechanism for stokers, comprising a well structure having side Walls and a bottom and provided with a lateral discharge aperture located adjacent to the bottom, a rotating discharge roll located adjacent said aperture, and a reciprocating plunger mounted on the bottom and movable toward and away from said roll, the travel of said plunger being such that the refuse impelling capacity thereof is less than the refuse impelling capacity of said roll,

2. A refuse discharge mechanism for stokers, comprising a well structure having poke holes formed in the sides thereof and provided with a lateral discharge opening near the bottom thereof, a grinder roll partially closing said aperture and plungers operating on the bottom of the well structure for impelling fuel through said aperture.

3. A refuse discharge mechanism for stokers comprising a well structure having lateral and side walls, and a bottom, and provided with a lateral discharge aperture located in one side wall through which refuse is discharged substantially horizontally, a rotating roll disposed in the opening and spaced above the bottom for impelling refuse through the opening, and a reciprocating plunger moving across the bottom and toward and away from the aperture adapted ion the said roll.

4. A refuse discharge mechanism for stokers comprising a well structure having a bottom and side walls, one of the said side walls terminating in a rotary impelling roll spaced from the bottom and adapted to impel refuse through the aperture between the roll and the bottom, and a reciprocating plunger moving across thebottom and toward and away from the said aperture adapted to force refuse against the underside of the said roll.

5. A refuse discharge mechanism for stokers comprising a well structure adapted to receive refuse material fromlthe stoker, and provided with a lateral discharge opening located near the bottom portion thereof, and a plunger way formed in the wall opposite said discharge opening, a plunger operating in said way and movable across the bottom portion of the well structure toward and away from said discharge opening, the plunger being of such length relatively to the length of its travel that one edge of the plunger does not move into the confines of the well structure, and a discharging roll located adjacent said discharge opening and toward which said plunger moves during, the discharging stroke.

6. A refuse discharge mechanism for stokers, comprising a well structure having side walls and a bottom and provided with a lateral discharge opening located in one wall adjacent the bottom, and a plunger way formed in the other wall, a plunger operating in said way and movable across the bottom f the well structure toward and away from said discharge opening, and a grinder roll partially closing said opening and adapted to crush and propel refuse therethrough, said plunger being of such length relatively to the length of its stroke that one edge thereof does not move into the confines of the well during the discharging stroke.

7- A refuse discharge mechanism for stokers comprising a well structure havilrside walls and a bottom and provided with a discharge opening, a rotating crushing and discharging roll located adjacent said opening and adapted to crush and discharge refuse through said opening, and a reciprocating plunger movable across the bottom and toward and away from said roll, the travel of said plunger being such that the refuse impelling capacity thereof is less than the refuse impelling capacity of the roll.

8. A refuse discharge mechanism for stokers, comprising a well structure having side walls and a bottom and provided with a lateral discharge'aperture formed in one side wall and located adjacent said bottom, a plunger mounted in a way formed in the other side wall and movable across the bottom and toward and away from said aperture, and a grinding roll partially closing said aperture and so located with relation to an edge of the .aperture that the edge forms an abutment for freeing the roll of refuse material adhering thereto, said plunger being so constructed and arranged that one edge thereof never moves into the confines of the well structure.

9. A refuse discharge mechanism for stokers comprising a well structure having poke holes formed in the end walls thereof, and a refuse discharge aperture formed in one side wall adjacent the bottom portion of the well structure, a grinder roll partially closing said aperture and a series of reciprocating plungers 'movable across the bottom portion toward and away from said roll for impelling fuel through said'aperture.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto' subscribed our names'this 12th day of February, 1918.

FRANK T. NICHOLSON. JOHN M. NICHOLSON. 

